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I’m taking a break from my “mini” vacation in UP Michigan to address the horrific tragedy that has taken place in Asia as a result of the massive tsunami that hit this region.

As of right now, we are told that there are at least 55,000 confirmed dead. As the news has come in, my first reaction is to ask “what can we do to reach out to the people of this region?”

Although I do not have the answer to that question at the moment, I am in contact with an organization that may be able to connect us to local churches in this region who we can partner with and reach out to.

I have also just spoken with Jim Larson, our missionary friend in Bangkok. Jim suggests that we do our best to connect with a local church in the area. I agree.

As soon as we have some clear direction, I will mass email our church family and ask as many people to get involved as possible.

Stay tuned and in the meantime, let’s pray for God’s peace to be upon every family who has lost a loved one.

Today is my dad’s (and our former pastor, Larry Hodge’s) birthday. He would have been 61 today. My family is going out for dinner tonight in his honor (any excuse to eat of course…) 🙂

He’s a dearly missed man. I asked someone today if they think that birthdays are celebrated in Heaven. I suppose there’s no way to know for sure, but it would make sense that our lives are pretty important in Heaven too – even more than on earth, I suppose.

I’m not sure how old he was in this picture. He had the Alfalfa thing going on. I’m almost sure this is why my mom married him. 🙂

this morning i’ve been meditating on the word wisdom. specifically from the book of proverbs which says, “wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech…”

something i find most fascinating about this particular scripture is that it says that “wisdom calls aloud.” suggesting that wisdom speaks to us at times, but maybe we are not listening. maybe we are so busy with life, that we are not really in a position to hear from god, nor any good counsel from family and friends.

wisdom, i would submit to you, is more than simply the ability to see beyond ourselves, but even perhaps more profoundly, to see within ourselves. life, if you will, is the context for growing in wisdom, not simply when you experience something, but when you extract it from your experience. wisdom and experience are uniquely interconnected. not only can wisdom be gained from experience, but the quality of your future experiences will be shaped by your wisdom.

i heard someone once say, “what we continually ask for is to know god’s will for our lives; what god continually offers us is his wisdom for our lives.” well said.

wisdom, as difficult as it is to define, is not that difficult to describe. even when we are not sure what wisdom really is, we know it when we see it.

an essential component of wisdom, is the ability to get to the “core” of life. wisdom always finds a way through the mess we make of life. might i add, not always the easiest way.

the scripture says that god has made unto us wisdom (1 cor. 1.30). ask god for wisdom. remember, “wisdom calls aloud in the streets.”

As you can see from our posts (or lack thereof actually…) we are super busy around here getting ready for all kinds of exciting things coming up.

This weekend, Ted will be wrapping up our Apprentice series. Don’t miss it.

The following Sunday, I will be doing a short 2 week series based on the movie, “The Polar Express”. I’ll be sharing more about it this Sunday. If you haven’t seen the movie, go check it out this weekend. You can find more details about it here.

Don’t forget about the Children’s Christmas concert happening this Sunday night at 6:30pm.

See you Sunday!

PS – Thank you all of you faithful Orchard Blog readers! If you get a chance, drop us a comment to let us know you are reading. THANKS!!